New Terrain in Interaction Design - Computers as Theatre - page 180

in television for decades. The ability to pay a small amount for a televi-
sion show without ads has changed the landscape of television advertising.
Advertisers and legacy networks alike are emitting cries of desperation.
The advertising model of revenue in the “consumer” software industry is
unlikely to survive over the long term. To the extent that apps, like music
and movies, may be purchased for relatively low fees, we can see the be-
ginnings of an economy that is pay for value. I see this as a business design
problem that we in the industry have to face.
Transmedia Design
When was the last time you saw a contemporary movie that didn't have
an associated Web site? When is the last time you saw an animated movie
that didn't have an associated game? A social network without pictures
and video? A Grateful Dead show (age check) without an associated
t-shirt? Transmedia design is not new, but doing it well is a relatively new
design arena.
At Purple Moon, we worked to extend the world of the games through
transmedia design, with a rich Web site, secret stones in their purple
pouches (drawn from the content of the Secret Paths games), and “bendee”
versions of the characters. Scholastic published topics about the characters
with incidents that weren't in the games. That, I think, was good transme-
dia design. We also put out a bunch of stuff that was just about market-
ing and branding—a Purple Moon backpack, Purple Moon Keds, a Purple
Moon key ring with a purple soccer ball. This last batch served no real pur-
pose in the “transmedia story.” About four years ago, I saw a homeless guy
wearing a Purple Moon backpack in San Francisco, so I guess it was good
for something. My point is that marketing collateral alone does not a trans-
media property make.
In his book Convergence Culture (2006), Henry Jenkins provides this def-
inition of “transmedia storytelling”:
A transmedia story unfolds across multiple media platforms, with each
new text making a distinctive and valuable contribution to the whole.
In the ideal form of transmedia storytelling, each medium does what
it does best—so that a story might be introduced in a fi lm, expanded
through television, novels, and comics; its world might be explored
through gameplay or experienced as an amusement park attraction. Each